PR: Cursed
It had been that day.
The day when they had stepped out from the tent, hearing the busy voices of the servants searching for them.
And it was that day that she and Elric had headed to the back hills to avoid them.
“Today, we’ll go on a demon hunt! Any knight worth their salt should be able to capture a monster in the blink of an eye!”
“C-Captain… My mom said that monsters are dangerous though…”
“Idiot, being a knight is inherently perilous!”
“That’s true, but…”
Bart stammered, but Elric didn’t budge.
So was the atmosphere around him.“You’re the boss! Of course you think differently than we do!”
“That’s so cool! I admire you!”
“Waaaaaah!!!”
If she could go back to that day, Tyria would have sent Elric home after the very dry ride up the hill.
After all, Elric’s encounter with the beast that day had left him with an unhealable scar.
But eight-year-old Tyria knew none of that.
The Wyvern Family’s educational program hadn’t taught her about the dangers of monsters.
It didn’t teach her that she shouldn’t go to the back mountains, and it certainly didn’t teach her what to do if she did encounter a monster.
This was not part of aristocratic etiquette.
After all, how often was it that a nobleman would come face to face with a demon?
As such, Tyria was purely happy to be with Elric that day.
“When are we going?”
She had asked with a hint of impatience.
If they didn’t get to the hills soon, people from their families would find them.
They needed to get to the mountains before this happened.
It could have been called a lover’s escapade.
Well, Elric had said that he wouldn’t marry her, but it didn’t matter to Tyria.
What mattered was that she wanted to.
As her parents had said, “a nobleman is one who has everything they want under their feet,” and it hadn’t occurred to her that Elric’s wishes mattered.
Thus, Tyria’s hand firmly held onto Elric’s sleeve.
But, Elric hadn’t really bothered with the morning’s affairs.
“Ugly boy, you’re excited too, aren’t you?”
Elric chuckled.
Tyria only smirked at the word “ugly”.
“Good, then let’s get going!”
“Waaaaaah!” the children shouted, as Elric raised his wooden sword above his head.
And with that, Tyria started climbing the hills behind the town.
“Split up here, and shout when you find a monster!”
Elric said, as the children scattered from the mouth of the mountain.
But Tyria stayed with Elric.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
The mountain behind the town was not a gentle place.
The paths were unmaintained and unused by anyone other than herbalists, and as such, stones and tree roots often blocked their path.
As a result, Tyria had difficulty climbing.
With a swollen calf from being hit by corporal punishments, it was hard for her to walk up the rugged mountain.
Of course, she didn’t show it.
She feared that Elric might abandon her if she interfered with the search for the demon.
But,
“Ughhh…!”
Her body was more honest than her mind, and she groaned.
“What’s wrong, Ugly?”
Tyria shook her head at Elric’s inquiring question.
However, Elric was more perceptive than she realized.
Sensing that something wasn’t right, Elric closed the distance between them and lifted her ankle-length skirt to check her calves.
As soon as he saw the blue/yellow calves, he bristled.
“…What is this, are you hurt?”
Tyria felt her heart drop.
Worry filled her, as she wondered if the angry Elric would tell her to go home.
“No…”
“No?!”
Tyria’s body shuddered.
It was at that moment.
“If you’re sick, you should have told me! You little shit, come here! I’ll even treat that ugly face of yours!”
In a flash, Elric scooped Tyria up and carried her on his back.
Tyria opened her eyes as wide as a rabbit’s in surprise.
Her mind couldn’t process the situation, as the opposite of what she had expected was happening.
Tyria blurted out.
“Aren’t you going to throw me away…?”
“Why would I abandon you? A knight doesn’t abandon his comrades.”
“Am I a comrade?”
“Then are you an enemy? I told you, you’re our medic.”
Though now she was the wounded soldier.
With that muttered, Elric snorted, and carried Tyria up the mountain.
Snow crunched under his foot.
Elric grumbled, and the wind was cold.
Still, Tyria felt a strange warmth that made her feel hotter than ever.
So she grinned like a fool again.
“Hehe…”
Indeed, no matter how much she thought about it…
“I like you.”
“Well, I don’t.”
“I’m going to marry you.”
“But I don’t want to?”
Tyria threw her arms around Elric’s neck.
Elric grumbled, but he didn’t shake her off.
Despite her calves and face hurting, she felt warm, and so Tyria happily started swinging her legs.
“Hold still!” said Elric, and when she didn’t stop, he just sighed heavily.
“If you want to marry me, you’re going to have to be pretty.”
“Okay.”
“You have to have good hair, and you have to be able to have lots of kids.”
“Huh?”
“Because I’m going to create an Elric Knight Order. I’m going to need ten of them, so I need you to be strong. Aldio says that strong women bear children well.”
Elric only added color to Tyria’s dreamy future.
A sunny, picturesque house, a grown-up Elric and herself, children huddled all around them.
It was so nice.
Tyria felt her heart swell with excitement for a future that seemed like a dream.
“I’m not going to hit the kids.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“I’ll hug them every day.”
“Silly, you can’t hug them every day.”
“I’ll still hug them, and I won’t criticize them if they eat badly.”
“That’s nice.”
In the midst of their conversation, Elric had stopped.
They’d arrived at a place with tall grass that covered an area only as big as a palm.
“Sit here.”
With that, Elric sat Tyria down on a rock and began plucking and gathering blades of grass.
“What are you doing?”
“These are all herbs, and are good for wounds.”
Elric replied nonchalantly, tearing the gathered herbs apart with a rock and dabbing them on Tyria’s calf.
“Ouch…”
“Suck it up, you fool.”
It stung too much for her to bear.
Still, Tyria endured.
It was a good thing that Elric was doing it himself.
Soon enough, her calf was green with leaves, and Elric tore off the sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around her calf.
“There!”
He said with pride, and Tyria looked at him curiously.
“How do you know all this stuff?”
“I’ve been studying. You’re a medic and you don’t know this stuff?”
“Or course I wouldn’t know.”
“If you don’t know, then study!”
Elric grinned.
“If you want to marry me, you should at least know how to grow your own herbs!”
Tyria smiled back at him dismissively.
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s go. Geez, you’re too much of an ugly person anyway.”
Elric picked Tyria up again.
And their walk continued.
He would not know.
That, because of their conversation on this day…
…she had begun to study plants.
And how eventually, this initial studying had turned into a hobby called gardening.
That it was still something Tyria thought about.
“Gaaah!!!”
If only she hadn’t followed him to the back mountains that day,
“Grrrr…”
His earlobe would have been left unscathed.
She wasn’t sure exactly at what point it happened.
What she did remember was that she had been riding on Elric’s back, babbling dreamily, when suddenly, everything around them had turned eerie.
At one point, even the sounds of the mountain birds had faded. As silence swept through the space, it was then that it appeared.
“Grrrr…”
Its jet-black body was tense.
Its jet-black eyes stirred an instinctive fear, and its gaping, drooling mouth was filled with fangs.
It reeked of rancidity, and it had an unpleasant, disgusting, fetid odor.
“Grrrr…!”
Tyria had screamed the moment they met.
“Gahhhhh!!!”
She flailed around in a daze and had fallen off of Elric’s back.
The moment her butt landed with a thud, the beast’s front paws twitched slightly.
Whoosh–!
It was an unbelievable sight.
Barely being able to raise her head, Tyria could see blood gushing from the nape of Elric’s neck.
The sight of the crimson liquid dripping onto the white, snowy mountain was unreal.
The contrast of colors was stark, and the foul scent was sickening.
“Uhm….”
Tyria’s mind had blanked.
It was at that moment.
“…Run.”
Elric had said.
His head jerked back, his urgency apparent in his eyes.
“You run first!”
He raised his wooden sword.
Whilst his other hand was pressed firmly to the nape of his neck.
Run away?
To where?
To whom?
You?
As the questions swirled through her mind, Elric shouted again.
“Go!!!”
Her legs shook.
Tyria couldn’t stand up.
Tears filled her eyes and her teeth clattered together.
Elric bit his lip.
“Ugh…!”
Steadying himself, Elric faced the beast head-on.
The beast’s eyes widened as it let out a space shattering cry.
Only then did Tyria see.
Elric’s legs had been shaking.
He was just as frightened as she was.
But he wasn’t running away.
‘It’s all because of me….’
Tyria felt her insides burning.
“Come at me!!!”
Elric ran at the beast.
The last thing Tyria could vividly remember was a burst of crimson smoke coming out of him.
Crash–!
Elric had bounced off the beast’s front foot and collided with Tyria.
Their bodies had started tumbling down the mountain.
Even in the midst of it all, Tyria held onto Elric tightly
Whilst the demon followed, stalking towards them at a leisurely pace.
Finally, with a thud, they slammed into a tree stump, pain shooting through their bodies.
It was at that moment that she realized that Elric had passed out.
It was at the same time that the demon’s shadow had fallen over Tyria’s body.
But it was one step too late.
“Found you.”
A low voice had said.
Shlick–!
The beast had split in half lengthwise.
In her fading vision, Tyria had seen only a blur.
A grown man, dressed in a leather robe made of haphazardly woven animal skins, walking away with a knocked out Elric slung over his shoulder.
Crunch, Crunch–
The sound of crunching snow faded into the distance, as Tyria blacked out.
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